Bishop James P. Powers has a quiet moment of joy after interacting with his fellow clergymen following the morning Mass at Fall Conference on Oct. 23 in Rice Lake. (Catholic Herald photo by Anita Draper)
Anita Draper
Catholic Herald staff
What does it mean to be human? What constitutes a good life? What do you long for?
Educators, clergy, catechists and parish leaders from across the Diocese of Superior reunited Friday, Oct. 23, in Rice Lake to explore these questions from a Catholic perspective.
Hosted by two diocesan departments – the Office of Catholic Formation and the Office of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship – the 64th annual Fall Conference, themed “Wonderfully Made: Rediscovering the Gift of Being Human,” took place at St. Joseph Catholic Church and school.
The daylong event began with registration and Mass, followed by three keynotes by Theology of the Body Institute author and senior lecturer Bill Donaghy, with time for lunch, breaks and visits with vendors. Two businesses, BlestArt and Donald’s Uniform, sponsored the conference.
Typically fewer people attend the 9 a.m. Mass than the later keynotes, as many travel from across the diocese, but the church was packed at this year’s Mass. Outside, the high was 70 degrees, clement weather for late October in northern Wisconsin.
Office of Catholic Formation Director and Superintendent of Schools Peggy Schoenfuss said Fall Conference turnout was strong this year, just under 300, according to Office of Catholic Formation administrative assistant JulieAnne Johnson.
“We’re pretty happy with the number,” Schoenfuss said.
Mass
Bishop James P. Powers presided at the Mass, which was concelebrated by priests serving in area parishes, including Fr. Dan Tracy, parochial administrator of the Rice Lake cluster of parishes, with the assistance of visiting deacons and Dcn. Rod Knight, who also serves the Rice Lake parish cluster.
After welcoming everyone on a beautiful day – and referencing the morning’s dense fog he encountered en route from Superior – Bishop Powers opened his homily by noting the Fall Conference is one of the great annual celebrations of the Diocese of Superior. He thanked keynote speaker Bill Donaghy for sharing his knowledge.
“Some of you may know that I don’t very often change readings from the reading of the day,” the bishop said, explaining why he’d selected the optional readings for the Memorial of St. John Capistrano.
A priest born in Italy in 1386, St. John was first a lawyer, governor, married and then a prisoner of war before he joined the Order of Friars Minor. He started preaching as a deacon in 1420 – Black Plague had killed a third of the population, and there was schism in the Catholic Church – and traveled throughout Europe, preaching against heresies, writing, healing, traveling at the behest of the Holy See and establishing religious communities. An organizer of the effort to maintain Christianity in Europe, he marched off to war against Turkish Muslims at age 70, where he succeeded in battle but died soon after.
“Seriously, how beautiful the readings of St. John Capistrano are,” the bishop added, leading into the Fall Conference theme of “Wonderfully Made: Rediscovering the Gift of Being Human.”
“If you thought about that theme at all, I wonder what you came up with as to what it means to be truly human and to live a human life well,” Bishop Powers said.
He believes if surveyed, most people would say “living well” means being successful, comfortable, being about to enjoy the good things of life. He hopes Catholics would identify something deeper.
“We are created for love, redeemed by Christ and called to give ourselves in love to God and each other,” the bishop advised.
Referencing the day’s reading from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 5, he explained, “the love of Christ impels us” – St. Paul says it moves us forward, beyond ourselves.
St. Paul shares “something essential about what it means to be human.” We are “not created as islands, to satisfy our own desires, protect our own interests or only be concerned about our comfort.” We are created in the image and likeness of God, created for love, the bishop repeated, and “we discover the meaning of our lives when we learn to give generously of ourselves in love.”
“Part of the dignity …. of being a human person is we find ourselves by giving ourselves away in love,” he added. It’s a decision, a self-gift. “We know that it isn’t always easy or fun our convenient,” he admitted.
In the Gospel from Luke, chapter 9, verses 57-62, Jesus advises his followers that they will have no security or comfort, they should “let the dead bury the dead” and leave their families and homes without turning back.
“As harsh and demanding as Jesus’ response sounds, he isn’t encouraging us to lose our obligations to others,” the bishop explained. “Rather, the call to discipleship must take priority in our lives.” We must have “a free heart, free enough to say yes instantly to the call of our God.”
“Freedom has been given to us so we can freely choose good and give freely of ourselves in love,” but sometimes we put other things first, the desire for security or clinging to old ways – regretting failures, nursing old wounds, falling into old habits – and we struggle to move forward.
We cannot change the past, the bishop affirmed, but we can be redeemed through Christ and we can trust in God, who loves us.
Reviewing the history of St. John Capistrano, Bishop Powers said his life reminds us that “holiness is not about escaping our humanity, it is about allowing Christ to transform us.”
“We are sent into the world to make Christ’s word visible,” he added. “The gift of being human is not simply the gift of being alive. We “receive our humanity as a gift and … offer our lives as a gift in return.”
He concluded, “St. John Capistrano, pray for us.”
Emcees
Following Mass, Schoenfuss took the podium. Noting that educators too need to grow in faith to share the faith with others, she said, “This is a difficult world that we live in now…. We need to know what the faith teaches us, as we are in Catholic parishes and Catholic schools.”
Schoenfuss thanked educators for their service, and Chris Huburtise, director of the Office of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship, introduced Bill Donaghy.
Characterizing the day as a “gift of encountering truth, beauty, goodness,” Hurtubise asked attendees to turn off their phones and put them in their bags, “as an act of rebellion against our smartphones’ tyranny,” a theme that would be woven throughout the day.
